Video: Inside Paul Tazewell's WICKED Movie Costume Designs

Prolific designer Paul Tazewell was tasked with lending his skills to the elaborate costumes onscreen in the new Wicked movie. 

"I wanted to bring my own voice to the world of Wicked embodied by Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda," Tazewell says in a new video that sheds light on his costume designs, which include several recognizable pieces from the stage musical.

For Glinda's first "bubble dress," Tazewell and dressmakers took inspiration from the Fibonacci spiral, "creating shapes using that as a springboard and then evolving that into the dress that we have now," explains Tazewell.

For Elphaba, Tazewell wanted to evoke the texture and patterns of mushrooms and fungi that are found in nature, making a dress that Cynthia Erivo says "felt like velvet." Ariana Grande added "Every single costume in this movie is a piece of art." Watch the video for a closer look at the iconic outfits!

About WICKED

The Wicked film adaptation stars Cynthia Erivo as Elphaba and Ariana Grande as Glinda. Joining them is Jonathan Bailey as Fiyero, Ethan Slater as Boq, Michelle Yeoh as Madame Morrible, and Jeff Goldblum as the Wizard. 

Marissa Bode will portray Nessarose, Elphaba's younger sister. The cast of characters also includes Pfannee and ShenShen, two conniving compatriots of Glinda played by Emmy nominee Bowen Yang (Saturday Night Live) and Bronwyn James (Harlots), and a new character created for the film, Miss Coddle, played by Tony nominee Keala Settle (The Greatest Showman). Aaron Teoh joins as Avaric with Michael Carmichael as Nikidik. Emmy-Winner Peter Dinklage is set to play Dr. Dillamond in the film.

Part One of the film will be released on November 22, 2024, with the second part hitting theaters on November 21, 2025. Pre-save the official soundtrack here. Also, be sure to check out BroadwayWorld's comprehensive guide to the Wicked movie!